Daily Archives: June 10, 2019
‘A major punch in the gut’: Midwest rains projected to create Gulf dead zone
As rain deluged the Midwest this spring, commercial fisherman Ryan Bradley knew it was only a matter of time before the disaster reached him. All that water falling on all that fertilizer-enriched farmland would soon wend its way through streams and rivers into Bradley’s fishing grounds in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Mississippi coast. The nutrient excess would cause tiny algae to burst into bloom, then die, sink, and decompose on the ocean floor. That process would suck all the oxygen from the water, turning it toxic. Fish would suffocate, or flee, leaving Bradley and his fellow fishermen with nothing to harvest. >click to read<21:12
Wespac: Fisheries Management Council Needs To Be Fully Investigated
It’s time for a deep look into how the council is operating, particularly how it has been spending millions of dollars in grants and contracts. Secretive funds and wasteful projects. Conflicts of interest and political favoritism. Limited oversight and stonewalling administrators. Civil Beat’s recent three-part series “Reeling It In,” which helps lift the heavy lid on the murky operations of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, raises as many questions as it answers about a vital government agency that has swayed from its core mission. (Do they warrant investigation? Do other Councils?) >click to read<19:03
New England Fishery Management Council meeting June 11-13, 2019 in So. Portland, ME
The New England Fishery Management Council will be meeting at DoubleTree by Hilton, So. Portland, ME. June 11-13, 2019. To read the final agenda, >click here< Register for webinar >click here< to listen live. 16:23
Sixty-Something: Participating In This Year’s Montauk Blessing Of The Fleet
Every late spring, for the last sixty years, there has been a pure Montauk tradition called the Blessing of the Fleet. It is both a memorial for lost local fisherman and boaters and the celebration on a new fishing season and a blessing from the almighty that it be a safe one. There are five representatives from different religious sects who pray and bless the commercial and charter boat fleet of Montauk as they circle the boat with the clergymen in the harbor. It is quite an emotional and colorful ordeal. >click to read<15:43
New Zealand: Lack of interest in commercial fishing jobs threatens our fresh fish and chips
One of New Zealand’s few licensed fish processors and exporters says it is in dire need of more fish and fishermen. Egmont Seafoods, based in New Plymouth, say if things don’t change there won’t be fresh seafood readily available for New Zealanders or for export overseas. It’s the start of the week and although there are fish on the shelves for customers to buy, Egmont Seafoods has no fish to process and won’t until Wednesday.,,, “There’s an opportunity to take advantage of the fish stock we’ve got on our back doorstep but it’s difficult to do that when you don’t have the people who want to get involved.” >click to read<12:55
Workers Compensation Board after fishermen to wear PFDs
Starting Monday, the Workers Compensation Board of P.E.I. will be heading to wharves across the Island to ensure fishermen are wearing personal flotation devices. The visits are part of an education and compliance initiative the WCB started last year. “The fishing industry is a dangerous industry,” said Danny Miller, director of occupational health and safety. “We’ve been focusing on the education, and the recent fatalities on P.E.I. have further reminded us that there’s more work to do.” Four people died in commercial fishing accidents last year in P.E.I. waters. >click to read<10:51
Ken MacDonald – Hanging out at the wharf
Port Morien wharf. It’s an annual rite of spring in many of our coastal communities. As predictable as the longer hours of daylight and buds sprouting on the trees, the wharf emerges from its winter hibernation. Boats are launched, equipment is checked and traps are transported to the wharf, stacked neatly; ready to load. This beehive of activity takes place in the weeks leading up to the May 15th opening of the lobster season, as it has been for decades. In its heyday, the wharf was a scene of perpetual activity. Boats were sometimes tied four and five alongside each other. Fishermen docked in the same place at the wharf, and many of us can still remember where they tied up their boats. As kids, we could look from a distance and knew who owned every boat. >click to read<09:52
Tributes paid in Orkney following French lifeboat tragedy
The three RNLI stations here in Orkney paid tribute after lifesaving colleges in France lost their lives in a lifeboat tragedy on Friday. Crew at stations in Longhope, Kirkwall and Stromness, all posted messages on their Facebook pages following the news that three lifeboat crew from the Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM) died while responding to a fishing boat in distress in a storm. The all weather lifeboat Jack Morisseau of SNSM, with seven crew aboard, suffered smashed wheelhouse windows and capsized several times, some 800 meters off the coast of Les Sables d’Olonne, as Storm Miguel swept in from the Atlantic. Three of the seven crew died, with the others rescued. >click to read<09:07
